Proposals have been made to increase council tax by an additional £2 a month to invest in and strengthen Hertfordshire’s police force.

The proposals come following an announcement made by the Home Office allowing for the flexibility to raise the precept by £24 a year on the average Band D household.

The additional funds from an increased council tax would generate £10.7 million in income - a five per cent increase in the total police budget for policing in Hertfordshire in 2019/20.

Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd has the responsibility for setting the budget for Hertfordshire Constabulary and how it is to spend its money over the coming year and favours this increase.

Mr Lloyd says that in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of policing, the force need to be properly resourced and equipped and officers bringing criminals to justice need to focus on preventing crime.

The suggested increase of less than 50p a week per average household, said to be one of the lowest council tax contributions for policing in the country, would help to protect neighbourhood policing teams and invest in services for victims.

A rise in council tax could help to strengthen Hertfordshire Constabulary's policing over the coming year (Image: Getty Images)

Mr Lloyd said: “Unlike many police forces that have been cutting back their frontline, I have continued to invest heavily in preserving and strengthening local policing.

“It helps to create a police force that is embedded in, and supported by a community working together to cut crime.

“My community safety and criminal justice plan focuses on putting victims of crime first and finding ways to improve the support they require and their journey through the criminal justice system.

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“Further investment will be made in improving the service that victims receive and the outcomes for victims engaged with the criminal justice system.”

The coming year is said to present a number of new challenges for Hertfordshire.

In an open letter, Mr Lloyd explains that, nationally, serious violence is at its highest in the last seven years - representing a significant threat.

“Hertfordshire is not immune to these pressures,” says Mr Lloyd.

Serious crime levels nationally are the highest they've been in seven years (Image: @EHertsRrlPolice)

And like the rest of the country, Hertfordshire Constabulary has seen an increase in reported fraud, cybercrime and other emerging crime types.

However, it is positive to see that victims now have the confidence to report these crimes and get the required help," said Mr Lloyd.

“The income raised will enable the chief constable to invest to meet current demands and builds on the increases in officer numbers we have achieved this year, taking police officer numbers beyond 2,000 in the next financial year," he said.

“These additional officers will undertake the proactive work in neighbourhoods that you tell me you want to see and increase capacity in some of our specialist units including our Scorpion Teams to tackle the growing threats from serious violence, county lines and travelling criminality.